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“What other option is there?” Jianyu asked. “Jack told me of his plans. We cannot allow the Brink to fall. What is it that you haven’t told us?”
Esta looked at Harte, who knew the truth, but he only shook his head.
“We have to tell them,” she said.
“Tell us what?” Viola asked.
“Esta, nothing good can come from this,” Harte warned.
“We tried to avoid it, but we’re here now. They have a right to know.” She turned to her friends, who were watching her with barely leashed frustration, and she told them about Nibsy’s diary, about what it had shown. “If we try to stop Jack at the Conclave, there’s a good chance you’ll die.”
“You kept this from us?” Jianyu asked Harte.
“Because I didn’t believe it.” Harte closed his eyes as though gathering strength. “I don’t believe it.”
“Did you not read it with your own eyes?” Jianyu pressed.
“The diary also said that I’ll end up killing Esta,” Harte said, his voice like a lash. Everyone went silent at the outburst.
“This is true?” Viola asked.
“Yes,” Esta told her.
At the same time Harte said, “No.” He gave her a sharp look. “I refuse to let some dumb book that belonged to Nibsy Lorcan determine my fate.”
Esta tried to slip her hand into his. “It’s okay, Harte.”
“Nothing about this is okay,” he said. He was practically vibrating.
“Where is the diary now?” Ruby asked.
“We left it,” Esta said, glancing at Harte. “We gave it to a friend.”
“You left it?” Cela asked. “It told the future, and you didn’t think to bring it?”
Viola threw up her arms. “Why would you do something so stupid?”
“I left it,” Harte told them. “Esta didn’t have anything to do with it, and I didn’t give her a choice.”
Esta looked at Harte and wondered for the hundredth time what he’d done. He still wouldn’t tell her why he’d left the diary with Dakari. She knew it had something to do with Nibsy, but whatever Harte’s reason, it apparently hadn’t worked.
“The diary does not matter,” Jianyu said finally. “Whatever it might have shown us does not signify in our decisions.”
“How can you say that?” Cela demanded. “If it says you’re going to die, of course it signifies.”
“Jack must be stopped,” Jianyu said, as though the point were as simple as that. “Should he bring down the Brink, it will mean the end of everything.” He gave a small shrug. “We are the only ones who know of his plans, and so we must be the ones who stand in his way.”
“I can’t ask you to do that,” Esta said. “I can’t ask you to walk into that danger knowing that it likely won’t work, knowing that you probably won’t walk away.”
“You are not asking it of us,” Jianyu told her. “I nearly died under Jack Grew’s hand. I know what he is capable of, and I will choose my own path. No matter what the consequences for my life may be.”
“Jianyu is right,” Viola said. “Whatever the diary might have said, Jack cannot be allowed to create this future you described where the old magic is hunted. He cannot be allowed to keep the Book.”
“What we read weeks ago doesn’t mean anything,” Harte told them. “The Conclave is still two weeks away. We still have time to learn more. We still have time to improve our chances.”
“I might be able to help with that,” Ruby said. The entire table of people turned to her, waiting.
“What do you mean?” Esta asked.
